Plymouth Argyle 1 Liverpool 0 (Feb 9 2025)

It can't have been "Indescribably bad" if you then write several hundred words describing how bad it was!!!

100% agree. We can join Chelsea, Arsenal, Spurs et Al and "concentrate on the league". Beat the bitters all forgiven.

Shows when all the lads are out on loan or Injured in Mortons case, the next level not all ready.

Slot will want to quickly move on and Weds night is crucial we can't have the rest of the 1st teamers stinking the pit out.

Feel sorry for Joe Gomez was a good chance for him to get a game under his belt.  Get back soon Joey G.

Come on REDS response time...

18 minutes ago, cwoods said:

It can't have been "Indescribably bad" if you then write several hundred words describing how bad it was!!!

Yeah but I don't think I did it justice!

File it under Burnley 2005. 

Turned out alright in the end...

I don't like making excuses - we were awful and Plymouth deserved the win - but that pitch looked hard as nails and drier than Ryvita. Perfect for them, awful for us. 

I watched the game, I felt we had no drive or control in midfield.  The game was played at a tempo which did not suit us.  I felt we could have done with a first teamer in the midfield.

Saw this comment earlier today....... 'Superstitious Liverpool fans should note that they were also knocked out by second-tier opposition in the 1984 fourth round (Brighton instead of Plymouth) before winning the League Cup, First Division and European Cup.'

We can but dream.

Like Bigguly just said, I thought the midfield looked really weak when I saw the team. When Gomez went off I assumed Nallo would be a straight swap, so I was surprised to see Mabaya, who hasn't even had many games for the u21s recently. I guess he preferred to use Endo's experience in defence rather than midfield - or after PSV maybe Slot wanted to avoid using Nallo at all costs. 

This game highlighted the deficiencies in the squad, especially in the midfield. When any (or all) of Dom, Grav and Curtis are out we lose out massively in terms of physicality and athleticism - and we have no replacements with those qualities. This was always going to be tough for the talented but young and lightweight Nyoni. McConnell is tidy, great attitude but essentially a work horse. Harvey was going to be the main creative outlet but he was poor and isn't great when it's essentially a physical battle. Which meant the forwards had to do all the creating for themselves, which they miserably failed to do. 

I'm sure Slot is using all of these games as a learning exercise and plotting the areas for improvement for next season in terms of squad development. I can foresee a lot of changes in the summer.  

In my mind, the fact it would've been City away, when considering all the other factors too, makes it a net positive that we're out.

Another emotional game against them, in likely their only chance of winning anything this season, with bitter cunts like Bernardo Silva loving nothing more than to injure one of more of our lads for the run in? Fuck that. 

It was deffo Rafa bad, I thought we'd left all that shit behind us but, like you I switched the game off at the whistle and moved on.

Don't know what the commentator was watching but it was obvious Joe got his injury chasing the winger, he just looked shell shocked.

The chance they had that hit the post, why play a high line when there's no var?

Will be a distant memory come May.

Just beat the shite, last game or not they have nothing to worry us.

9 hours ago, Chris said:

In my mind, the fact it would've been City away, when considering all the other factors too, makes it a net positive that we're out.

 

Another emotional game against them, in likely their only chance of winning anything this season, with bitter cunts like Bernardo Silva loving nothing more than to injure one of more of our lads for the run in? Fuck that. 

I doubt we’d be getting the same draw as Plymouth.

Harvey was dreadful but, in his defence, I thought he was the one player who looked bothered. His control was way off but he kept trying even if to no avail. 

Awlarses like me can’t agree withthe FA cup being least important. When I started going tothe match we still hadn’t won it and got that rammed down our throats by the blue lot regulary. As for the League cup we didn’t bother with it until forced to bythe League. The Cup in those days was as important as the League. As for Sunday……it was an oldfashioned cup-tie, Plymouth fully deserved their win, I was disappointed with the result and horrified by rhe performance but in the grand scheme of things in the 21st century I’m not that bothered, and look forward to their centre backs kicking shit out of Haarland.

What disappointed me the most was the squad and youth players not putting a shift in. I can accept them losing against more experienced players, there's no shame in that regardless of the league they play in, but the sort of casual half arsed nature of the capitulation was extremely shit.

We have 5 games in 2 weeks that will more than likely clinch the league if they go how we want them to go. Something had to give with that schedule and it was playing the team he did.

I find it hard to be critical of the players either, when you play a starting XI that has never happened before you get a disjointed performance. It happens all the time and this result happens when you tip the balance onto inexperienced kids from experienced footballers. 

3 hours ago, Barnesey said:

Harvey was dreadful but, in his defence, I thought he was the one player who looked bothered. His control was way off but he kept trying even if to no avail. 

Agree, but Chiesa was utterly crap and isnt or shouldnt be considered part of the first team.

That game needed one or two proper first team players to make the others wake up.

But in the scheme of things, its one less competition to worry about, the league and the champions league are more important.

4 hours ago, Peter Cormack said:

Awlarses like me can’t agree withthe FA cup being least important. When I started going tothe match we still hadn’t won it and got that rammed down our throats by the blue lot regulary. As for the League cup we didn’t bother with it until forced to bythe League. The Cup in those days was as important as the League. As for Sunday……it was an oldfashioned cup-tie, Plymouth fully deserved their win, I was disappointed with the result and horrified by rhe performance but in the grand scheme of things in the 21st century I’m not that bothered, and look forward to their centre backs kicking shit out of Haarland.

At the start of the season I don't think many would put the League Cup above it, but when you're already in the final of it and only in the 4th round of the FA Cup, surely it then becomes more of a priority?

Wasn't bothered before the game and same goes now. Delighted that Arne gave the 1st team a rest at home and it's then up to the reserves to prove themselves. 

Their failure should not be lost on Slot, bumpy pitch or not,  the passing,  control, technique, work rate and leadership were all absent 

It was absolutely fucking brutal. 
 

Argyle have now beat more PL teams in 2025 than they have championship teams, that’s how shite they are. 

On 10/02/2025 at 23:05, Babb'sBurstNad said:

I don't like making excuses - we were awful and Plymouth deserved the win - but that pitch looked hard as nails and drier than Ryvita. Perfect for them, awful for us. 

If I was a betting man, I would have cancelled all bets on us after seeing the first few minutes of the ball bobbling on that turf. Windy (unstable) weather and pitches like that are much, much harder to overcome than poor opposition. Trying to dribble past someone and passing it along the ground with one and two-touch football is nearly impossible. As I said on another thread, we had 85 pct precision on our passes, but most of those were without being pressured. In attack, I think we might have been nearer their number (55 pct). 

Today's super teams rely much more on technical and tactical ability than yesteryear's, where the biggest divide were between professionals and amateurs and their conditioning. There's no way Harvey Elliott will ever be suited for a game like that on Sunday. He might still make us tick over with intelligent and quick passing on a pristine Anfield surface in the last 20 mins of a PL game though. Both my sons who were watching the game with me wanted no part of him playing any more matches this season. We won't be subjected to conditions like that in other games though, and even if his value is more apparent in home games where we struggle to break down low block teams at home, he's done enough to be kept around as a squad player for the run-in. Same goes for Diaz, who struggled immensely with the conditions when trying to take on players.